WILLIAMS v. FCA US LLC

Filing 67

ORDER granting in part and denying in part 50 Motion to Strike. Signed by District Judge Laurie J. Michelson. (WBar)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
MARLIN WILLIAMS, PAMELA
WILLIAMS CARTHENS, JEROME
THOMSON, PhD, BRENDA DEFORREST,
LEVEN WEISS, J.D., MICHAEL D.
BROWN, J.D., CORA WILLIAMS, and
ANTHONY HILL, on behalf of themselves
and all others similarly situation,

Case No. 17-10097
Honorable Laurie J. Michelson

Plaintiffs,
v.
FCA US LLC,
Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S
MOTION TO STRIKE [50]
Named Plaintiffs are current and former employees of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).
They allege that an employee-evaluation policy has a disparate impact on African-American
employees. As a result of this policy, Plaintiffs, and others like them, allegedly received lower
evaluation scores which resulted in missed career advancements, bonuses, placement on probation,
and, in some cases, termination. Plaintiffs alternatively allege that FCA intentionally discriminates
against African-American employees.
Plaintiffs’ complaint relies in large part on information former-Plaintiff Marlin Williams
received as part of her position as Diversity Manager at FCA. The complaint incorporates by
reference documents Marlin Williams worked on as part of her employment, which are filed under
seal.

FCA alleges that Marlin Williams improperly took these documents after she resigned from
FCA. It now moves to have all reference to these documents stricken from the complaint, to have
the documents stricken from the docket, to preclude Plaintiffs from relying on the information
contained in these documents, to require Plaintiffs’ counsel to provide an accounting and return of
all documents Marlin Williams shared with Plaintiffs’ counsel, and to require Plaintiffs’ counsel
to provide an accounting of every person with whom they shared these documents and information.
(ECF No. 50.)
The motion is fully briefed (ECF Nos. 50, 56, 61) and the Court held a hearing on the
motion on June 7, 2019.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, for the reasons set forth more fully on the record in the Court’s
oral ruling, that Defendant’s motion to strike (ECF No. 50) is GRANTED IN PART AND
DENIED IN PART. Plaintiffs shall return all materials to FCA that have not otherwise been turned
over that are alleged to be confidential, proprietary, or contain trade secrets. Plaintiffs are also to
provide an accounting to FCA identifying everyone with whom Plaintiffs have shared information
contained in the documents as well as the documents themselves. Nothing will be stricken from
the complaint or from the docket.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/Laurie J. Michelson
LAURIE J. MICHELSON
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Date: June 10, 2019

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
The undersigned certifies that a copy of the foregoing document was served on the
attorneys and/or parties of record by electronic means or U.S. Mail on June 10, 2019.

s/William Barkholz
Case Manager to
Honorable Laurie J. Michelson